Universities need to combat historical misinformation on civil rights to understand how slavery continues to impact today's world, said panelists participating in a forum Friday called "Reparations, Redress and Restorative Justice."
"The South won an ideological victory (after the Civil War)," said panelist Roy Brooks, professor at the University of San Diego School of Law. As a result, the nation suffers from "collective amnesia" about slavery and its lingering effects.
Brooks was among eight panelists who spoke during the forum, which was sponsored by the Ford Foundation with the School of Communication. The foundation sponsors the school's Difficult Dialogues seminar series titled "Negotiating Memory and Difference," which focuses on multicultural issues in America.
The forum drew speakers from universities across the country and was split into two panels. The morning panel discussed the damaging legacies of slavery and lack of education on slavery and civil rights in schools. The afternoon panel focused on the complacent attitude of the American legal system toward civil rights. About 40 people attended each session in Harris Hall.
In the morning panel, Brooks stressed the need to clarify and correct the historical record.
"An episode of forgetting is upon us," he said. "When I was in school in the 1960s, I learned a tremendous amount in classes on civil rights and history. Today we don't have that. The problem is not only in secondary education, but universities. It should be a required course."
The panelists discussed methods of reparation, including giving money directly to the descendents of slaves or establishing education funds and museums to honor victims of slavery.
Reparation cases face challenges when courts decide the statute of limitations has expired, said panelist Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd), an Evanston attorney who litigates against corporations that have benefited directly from the contributions of slavery.
2008 Woodie Awards
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